(Closed) Infatuated with the town but not the house (long)

This Valentine’s Day, we spent the morning taking a drive to a nearby town we’ve never visited before. It was finally sunny and the perfect time to “visit” a house that we missed an Open House for since the Fi was out of town (visit as in drive-by very slowly and check-out without getting out of the car). The house wasn’t all that awesome, the yard was smaller than I’d hoped, the neighboring homes were a little too close for my taste, but the town … that town I liked.

It’s a small town with a population of under 3000 people, the entrance has an old stone bridge on a beautiful lake with a hotel that was featured in an old movie. There was a cafe near the lake and the whole area just seemed like it’s been untouched for a long time.

In our short drive-by we saw 2 or 3 large grocery stores, a main medical center, 2 large bank branches, a pizza place, a photographer, a cafe, and an actual tourist information building. It had pretty bus stops with a special sign and picture of the animal that represented the street it was on. There’s supposed to a few daycares nearby and the best part was the place is small so the lake isn’t that far of a walk from the house.

I had to talk the Fi into going to see it at first, but now he’s the one doing calculations and contacting the realtor. The Fi looked-up bus routes, since it was my main concern – that it would be too far from his work, but he found an “express bus” that takes 30-mins. He just called me saying he contacted the realtor and set-up a private showing on Wednesday night.

It looks like the process is starting. But I’m wondering if we’re rushing it. We’re not in a rush to find a home, but the size and location of this place is pretty nice, but the yard just isn’t as big as I expected. With such a tiny population, I wonder when a house will be available … but yet I don’t want us to kick ourselves for not getting this home, especially since it looks like we might even get it under the price they’ve listed — which is totally unheard of here since all the homes we’ve looked at sold for at least 20% OVER the list price. The realtor did say there’s 2 couples that were interested in the home but said they wanted to look around first.

In Sweden, the whole house-buying process is lightening fast! Homes will be shown twice (30-minutes each time), then after the last open house, the bidding is on. The house is usually sold within the first week! All homes we’ve looked at have been sold the very first week. It’s rare to see a house on the market for a month, in fact that means that no one wants it and it can be bought for under the price listed … which is what I’m hoping for … but … but …

it’s not totally the house I imagined in my head. I imagined a larger yard and a more open plan and a larger kitchen. The plus side of this house is the floor plan is unusual with a lot of open space, there’s a lot to play around with. For instance, we can take down the kitchen wall and integrate it with the living room.

I can go on and on and I will likely post again to continue since it’s only 4am in California. But I’m just wondering if my concerns are normal. It’ll be our very first home and reselling here isn’t as common (with the very high fees).

Is it supposed to be love at first sight? [attachment=712421,92224] [attachment=712421,92225]

Don’t rush it! Thats what we did for our first house (our current house) and we are kind of regretting it. We had our reservations about the size (900 square feet) and location (on a busy street – taxes are expensive). Hoever, we were adament that we wanted to get out of apartment, get a dog (love him!), and have our own yard/space, so we brushed the uneasiness off and dove in! 2 1/2 years later we are writing a list of what we absolutely will not settle for!! Its a big purchase and you don’t want to be rushing it!! Write out a list of pros and cons and discuss it – if it sells too fats then it wasn’t meant to be!

MrsJKH2be, thanks for your advice! I definitely don’t want us to regret a thing. It is a large purchase, and will likely be our largest purchase ever! We’ve made dinner plans with his parents tomorrow night to discuss the area and get some advice. But I’ve been playing around with the floor plans and it really looks good if we just break down one of the walls to open-up the kitchen.

30-more minutes and my Mom will be up so I can finally call her! Thanks again for the adivce, I really appreciate it!

The area looks gorgeous. Wait until you can see the inside before you stress too much, Once you get in there you may see things that will definately make or break your decision. Maybe everything inside will be so nive you won’t mind having a little smaller yard. Or maybe it will not be at all what you are looking for. If it doesn’t work out, don’t feel stressed to find something. Eventually you will find the right one.

We looked at so many houses we finally said we were going to do one more day of looking and if we didn’t find something we would rent another year. Our last house was one I picked out to look at and we knew right when we walked through it and met the neighbors that it was the house for us.

Don’t settle. But, be realistic about a first home, too. We bought kinda big and there are STILL things i want in the next house, like a bigger kitchen. A small kitchen is really stifling and mine isn’t even small!

And a yard is definitely something peopel regret later. My SIL is selling her home and buying a new one b/c the yard’s too small now that they have kids. I think it’s fine, but that’s me. I’m not a yard person. If it’s what you want, you’ll regret it soon.

I just got done talking to my Mom and just from pictures, she said she LOVES IT. She went on and on about how this house looks like a home and she prefers it much more than all the other homes I’ve been interested in. I’ve sent her pics of so many places and I’ve never heard her rave so much. But I just don’t get it cause I’m not completely convinced.

But she did provide some insight – if I want “my dream home” I won’t be the only one wanting it and it’ll sell for 20-30% over the list price like all the rest. She also thinks I’m imagining all the things I’m picking at, she thinks the yard is nice, and the kitchen is a little small, but nice. I guess I’ll see for sure this Wed.

I still think the area is ideal. I love love love the area and the lake/downtown is just a 10-15 minute walk away. We’ll see it on Wed and know for sure … but the thing is, if we do like it, we’ll have a house by the end of the week (at least on paper) … it’s crazy scary how fast the normal process works in Sweden. Being such a small population, it’s pretty rare to find a home in the right size within the area you want and the population is so small there’s no large developments so when one is available, it’s like a huge bidding war.

Having already been shown and no one placing a bid definitely increased our chances with this place. We’ll see how it plays out … but I still don’t know why I’m not super excited. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t expecting to find it.

When we bought ours it seemed like it was too easy as well…We saw the house, which was only on the market for 5 days, negotiated a price, and were in the house within 3 weeks! It all flew by, but when we did our final walk-though, had the keys in our hand, I sat in the car and cried a little because it was our first big purchase together and step towards the future (We weren’t engaged yet).

But always go w/ your gut…whats holding you back from feeling excited? Finances? Don’t get something only because “its a really good deal” – get something because your whole heart is in it! And while Mom’s insight is helpful – she won’t be living there! Just visiting….therefore she may write things off as being “good enough” when to you it is a necessity.

I think I figured out at least some of the reasons why I’m not as excited as I should be. I was emotionally invested in the last house we looked at – it was my like dream home … I liked everything about it, from the red, shiny doors to the warm yellow paint and the dark hardwood floors and exposed beams. I even liked how the owners decorated the place. It looked a lot like a barn conversion but it was super modern inside. The floor plan was sleek and the kitchen was integrated with the living room. The house could have been in a magazine. I adored it more than I admited …

That house sold for 20% over the list price, way more than we can afford. I even stalked the owners on Facebook when they first put it up, hoping I can find tidbits on why they’re selling on their statuses. It was just so pretty. The only downside was the location … it was in the middle of nowhere, so there was no grocery stores, which is something I’d want and need when we start to prep for a family. It also had no garage and the yard wasn’t as huge as I wanted, but all of that apparently didn’t faze me since I totally imagined my family sitting in that living room.

This house is nice, it looks well maintained and not a fixer-uper at all. But the floor plan is odd with a lot of scattered spaces, which is not necessarily bad, but it’s harder for me to connect with it when it’s not obvious on how to decorate it or which rooms to convert into something else. I also don’t like the flooring color – I know it’s super minor, and the kitchen isn’t a vital part of the home since it’s so small. The backyard is actually bigger than “my dream house” but still not as large as some others I saw.

I think I just haven’t completely accepted that I can’t have a HUGE countrystyle yard (aka land) when I want to live near the convenience of a store nearby. This is actually the first house we’ve seen that has real neighbors – before we were only interested in homes out in the country, but after seeing a few and driving on a few gravel and dirt roads, we realized we’re not that hardcore farmers afterall

I’m gonna list some pros and cons and I know this is long, but it’s 11pm now and this helps me organize my thoughts <3

Pros

Location, I absolutely love the town it’s in. It’s almost magical.

It’s spacious.

The upstairs looks a little like a barn conversion (that I like so much) with the exposed beams.

With so much room, I can totally customize it as my own.

It has hardwood floors and tiles.

It’s a corner lot.

The backyard is secluded with the way they planted trees.

It has a little sun deck.

It has a separate laundry room (some older homes here don’t).

It has a small sauna.

It has a walk-in closet in the master bedroom and the bathroom is semi-connected (it has 2 doors, one from the bedroom, the other from the hallway) and it has 2 sinks.

It’s in our budget.

Cons

As is, it’s not my style.

The kitchen is small and narrow.

The kitchen isn’t the main part of the house at all.

The layout is a little odd because it’s segmented so there isn’t a main part of the house.

I don’t like the color of the tiles.

I’m not completely digging the outside style of the house, but I don’t hate it either.

The street it’s on seems a little tight … not that tight but I really like huge open spaces.

There’s one fireplace, but it’s upstairs?!

I wish a space was reserved for a pantry.

The back yard is actually nice, but I think the front yard is ugly as is.

Easy remedies

Paint the outside of the house

Knock-down one kitchen wall to open the floor plan to integrate the main living room and dining room

Pull out the awful looking, super thick bushes

Wow … that’s it. I just realized I’m being too picky since a most of my gripes can be easily remedied. This is the first house that feels “close” even though we haven’t been inside yet. This is the first time we’re gonna have a talk with his parents specifically about a home so I guess I’m freaking out a little.

After all of this, we might even get outbidded by the other 2 couples that’re supposably interested. But knowing it’s just those 2 and they obviously don’t like it enough to actually bid, makes it seem “serious” even though it’s just the start of it all.

I’ll see how I’ll feel in 2 days after we see the inside.

To anyone that’s actually gotten this far to read this whole message, sorry if it was torturous! It’s tough looking for a first home especially when everyone I’m close to is in another part of the world.

Thanks for letting me think out loud! *HUGS FOR ALL THE ADVICE AND KIND WORDS* I really appreciate it!

It sounds like the pros outweigh the cons, at least for me. And they do say, “location, location, location!” I agree that (as impossible as it is) try to not stress about it too much until you actually see the inside. You’ll probably be able to make a confident decision after that. Let us know how it goes and good luck!

I agree w/ Caitlanc…..the pros seem to outweigh the cons. Good Luck on doing the walk though – it will give you a better understanding of the house and a vision of your new family living there. Also – think about the costs of knocking down a wall or remodeling the kitchen, painting the house and doing some landscaping. Will you have the time, know how, and patience to do it all?

We just recently bought a house and the saying is true: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.

You can change the inside of a house, but you can’t change where it is located! You are being very smart to look at the footprint of the house, you can change things around if there is enough space etc.

Also, we wanted a big yard because we like privacy and we have a dog and eventually want kids. We originally wanted 8+ acres, but everything we could afford with that much land was in the middle of no where. Every day I would have to drive almost an hour to work, the grocery store would be like 30 minutes, etc. We “settled” with 3/4 of an acre. We have a beautiful neighborhood and still have plenty of trees on our property. I would actually say we have more space in the yard then we need. You spend your time inside, not outside.

I just bought a house as well and can also vouch for location, location, location. We bought from 3 states away and in two weekends we narrowed down our search to within only 2 towns. And, even areas of those particular towns that we liked much better. We factored in the cost of property taxes, the neighborhoods, access to highways, quality of schools (this one is important, you may not care right now, but the next family that buys the house from you might), etc. and then we focused on homes that were only available in those areas we had narrowed down. I don’t regret the decision at all.

You can remodel, take down a wall and change things in the interior of the house, but you can’t change the location. Plus, it’s very unlikely that you will live here for the rest of your life, so enjoy the fabulous things about this place for a while and then be more picky on the next place.

Since you’re in Sweden, is there any kind of home inspections you can do to make sure it’s in proper condition? Or research into why it’s still on the market?

If what you’re saying is true that most houses go in 1 week and this one has been around a month, then perhaps there’s a reason others haven’t bought it?

Again – it could be something as simple as those “easy” fixes you talked about.

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We just put on offer down for our first house. It was really scary in the amount of money, etc… but we came to a realization that if we don’t spend THAT money on this… we’re going to spend the same amount of another house, most likely NOT in the location we like best. So, while it needs LOTS of easy fixes, the neighborhood is where we want to be. Then again, it also had everything on our list and then some.. so it was easy to say “don’t let it go!”

That being said, there was an offer put in before us. We don’t know if the others are being given a chance to trump our bid or not, and we might not even get it! lol